“How do companies in highly regulated industries deal with social media adoption?”

I recently answered a question from an Enterprise Community Manager on Focus.com when she asked,

“How do companies in highly regulated industries deal with the challenges of getting senior executives on board with the benefits of social media and adoption? High quality responses may be used in an upcoming Focus report on social media adoption.”

In the Digital Marketing of pharmaceuticals and Consumer Health, it is a challenge to walk the line between involving our clients in Social Media while still being sensitive to considerations around Adverse Affects Reporting and Personally Identifiable Information (PII) considerations. The current best practice is extensive monitoring of the sites in question. This can be accomplished through a combination of services and software but it can get expensive.

We find that some agencies rush headlong into the social media space unconcerned about the sensitivities required in the health and wellness verticals. Some industries simply must exhibit greater caution because of the risk of exposing a consumers health information to the public. – It isn’t the same as ‘liking’ your favorite movie if you ‘like’ a product that reveals something about your health.

Here is some related reading, FDA Delays Social Media Guidance… Again.

Sensitive Social Media by Glen Green